Find A Court Jester w/ Sven Brodmerkel | E19

Most career advice assumes a straight line. Paul Austin-Menear has never had one. He started a consulting business at 23, sold it, watched his next startup fail for being years too early, got laid off twice, and landed a decade-long job by mailing 200 letters. Paul Austin-Menear, founder of Six Catalysts, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast. After a decade in marketing, commerce and operations at a Toronto consumer tech startup, Paul now helps growing businesses ($5M to $100M) fix operations, marketing, HR and finance before they hit the potholes. He also co-hosts Roast the Post with Jennifer Houle. In this episode: Leaving small-town Ontario for opportunity Why a history degree's soft skills matter more in the AI era Engaging fairly with ideas you disagree with Coaching a parliamentary candidate at 23 The QR code startup that was too early, and what failure does to a partnership Building trust with business partners: expectations, reciprocity, and not screwing each other Why "self-censor and get along" is outdated advice for leading younger teams "Do what others aren't": the 200-letter job search Burnout, and building a solo practice for small businesses Advice for first-timers, new managers, and the C-suite Resources mentioned Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World (1987) Connect with Paul Six Catalysts: 6catalysts.ca The Journey, Paul's Substack: 6catalysts.substack.com Roast the Post: roastthepost.show and roastthepost.substack.com Co-host Jennifer Houle, Uncompliant: uncompliant.substack.com Connect with Dan and Kestryl Edge Join The Updraft and the weekly live leadership Q&A: dankorus.com/p/join Kestryl Edge leadership workshops: www.kestryledge.com/services Book a 20-minute fit call: www.kestryledge.com/contact Fact check Conversations run on memory, so here's a quick Dan-Fact-Check so folks know we value honesty in our media. We totally underestimated our Canadian driving distances. It's more like two-thirds of Canadians live within 100 km of the US border, not 90%. An Ontario three-year BA is a full bachelor's degree. The ease-of-starting-a-business ranking was the World Bank's (Canada 3rd, 2020), not the OECD's. Google Docs and Sheets launched in 2006. The credit crisis broke in August 2007; Lehman failed in September 2008. The ad figures fit cost per click, not CPM. Full sources to all claims are in the episode post on The Updraft. Music: "That Corner In Harlem" and "Orange Cap," licensed through Soundstripe. Code: FGA3KJINKZAAQVEV, E5DX6GR2OLQJXHKU #leadership #careerchange #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #hiring #management #kestryledge

When people are scared, they stop thinking. Their brains shift into survival mode, and the prefrontal cortex you hired them for goes quiet. Patricio Cuesta, founder of Thinkquan2m, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast to break down the neuroscience of psychological safety and why fear is the most expensive thing a leader can bring to work. Patricio spent decades as a corporate executive across Latin America and the United States, often as the person sent in to turn things around. Today he coaches executives through a neuroscience lens and teaches post-graduate engineering students at the University of Central Florida. In this episode: "You're paying for their prefrontal cortex, not their body": why fear wastes the talent you pay for Finding out he's neurodivergent at 50, and the engineering mindset that carried him Leading a turnaround in Brazil by visiting every distributor in their own language From windsurf instructor back to engineering school Steering a global consumer brand through the pandemic Killing initiatives that don't move the needle to protect your team's focus Psychological safety as an ecosystem for success, and what Google's Project Aristotle found Writing an instruction manual for your own brain Learning from imperfect leaders Advice for new hires, mid-career managers, and executives Resources mentioned Google re:Work, Project Aristotle and team effectiveness: https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understand-team-effectiveness Liz Wiseman, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (2010) John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Connect with Patricio Thinkquan2m: https://thinkquan2m.com. Patricio also shares his work on LinkedIn and Substack. Connect with Dan and Kestryl Edge Join The Updraft and the weekly live leadership Q&A: https://dankorus.com/p/join Kestryl Edge leadership workshops: https://www.kestryledge.com/services Book a 20-minute fit call: https://www.kestryledge.com/contact Music: "That Corner In Harlem" and "Orange Cap," licensed through Soundstripe. Code: S0EIFCTI0HGDQRFC, WKHQIH2WECJ0SP9D #leadership #psychologicalsafety #neuroscience #neurodiversity #management #executiveleadership #teamperformance #kestryledge

How do you go from starting a nonprofit with no house, no office, and a meeting at Applebee's to leading an organization that has backed New Mexico small businesses for nearly four decades? Lindsey Kay, CEO of WESST, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast to talk nonprofit leadership, small business support, and what it really takes to lead with your team instead of in front of it. Lindsey spent 14 years building Paws and Stripes, a program pairing rescue dogs with veterans living with PTSD and brain injuries, before stepping in to lead WESST, a women's business center and community lender serving small businesses across New Mexico. She brings a social worker's lens to business advising, ethics, and leadership. In this episode: How a rescue dog named Sarge sparked a 14-year service dog program for veterans Why you should always ask the question: QPR and suicide prevention Veterans are people first: there's always an "and" Building a nonprofit is building a business, and why your mistakes pave the way Small business advice: start focused, test your idea, then stay agile Ethics in business advising and why good advisors work with clients, not for them Why women's business centers and small business support matter to New Mexico's economy Psychological safety: a team where you can't tell who the CEO is Advice for your first day at work, for middle managers, and for senior leaders If you or someone you know is struggling In the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org Veterans Crisis Line (dial 988, then press 1): https://www.veteranscrisisline.net The Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ young people: https://www.thetrevorproject.org

Brent Bode has spent thirteen years in college admissions, now Senior Assistant Director at Western Washington University, and yes, he used to be my boss. We get into what actually happens on the other side of an application (a majority of four-year colleges admit most of who applies, despite what admissions-panic content tells you), where AI essay detectors get it wrong, and the winding path from a marine biology major to running a piece of a university admissions office. Find Brent: LinkedIn | WWU admissions page More conversations like this: dankorus.com/p/join Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: F84LGMWLWZ1ME70K, QAZLCXG5OSKURPEX

Burnout is a relationship breaking down between a person and their job.